Graduating Class at Charter School, Four Strong, Is Confident, Motivated

By C.K. WOLFSON

It took them six months to come to a consensus about the music to choose, but on Saturday morning, dressed in white and blue, garlands in their hair, they will stroll in to the sound of Dreams, by the Cranberries, and when the ceremony concludes, walk out to the Beatles singing, In My Life.

The Martha's Vineyard Charter School Class of 2004: Anna Ward and Emily Kavanagh will speak, Katrina Brown has decided to pass, and Robert Blood will probably offer a few words of thanks.

Other than following the traditions in place for the three preceding charter school graduations, the four graduates collaborated on the details of the ceremony. Everything is personalized, including the menu, catered by Jan Burman for the reception.

It is the natural expression for these diverse and fiercely individual students, all of whom have grown up moving to the rhythms of their unique personalities and are now poised to take on the world.

Robert (Bobby) Blood, who spent seven years sailing with his family on a 26-foot fiberglass catamaran, will be going to Maine Maritime Academy. When he graduates with a bachelor of science degree and a license to captain a vessel up to 500 tons, he'll be ready to captain a schooner across the Atlantic.

Dark-haired, outgoing Anna Ward, with intentions of being an actress, is hoping to attend Marymount Manhattan College in New York, although she isn't declaring drama her major, saying, "I feel as if actors who have more worldly experience are better actors."

Katrina (Trina) Brown, a tall, smiling, quiet blonde, is going to Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts to study early childhood education, with the goal of starting her own child care center.

Thoughtful and intense Emily Kavanagh will attend University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her ambitions, still undefined, revolve around writing and photography. "With the majors I'm looking at I'll probably be waitressing until I'm 40," she says, laughing.

In conversation, each appears self-confident, motivated and centered - all comfortable with who they are.

As they share their impressions, they first note the benefits of the school's academic program. Bobby most appreciates being able to individualize his studies. Each credits the school with fostering qualities of self-motivation and confidence through freedom of choice, an embracing school community and the supportive faculty.

"Everything is self directed," Anna explains. "You decide what you want to learn and you have to plan how to do it."

At first Emily didn't want to attend the charter school. "For me it was more that I wasn't comfortable with myself in connection with the other students because I didn't know anybody," she says. "And that was really awkward for me."

She notes that students can't hide at the charter school because there are so few of them.

Anna and Trina, best friends since childhood, attended the charter school in fifth grade, the first year it opened. "I have very good parents, and they taught me early on to be aware of how things are, and if I'm not happy with them, there's always a way to change it," Anna says. "So when the charter school first advertised it was a really good option."

She adds: "I think there's a misunderstanding that because we're such a close community we don't have outside relationships. But we have really close friends at the regional."

She describes her classmates as being "very proactive," making class discussions in-depth and animated. "We've been in the same class for years, so we know how everybody is going to react. We know who is going to say what, so it becomes a very well developed argument."

Their personalities and the process of their charter school education are most dramatically demonstrated in the five portfolios and one juried project the graduates each produced, with guidance from an advisor, during their junior and senior years. The portfolios, which take several months to complete, represent individual areas of study, chosen and customized by the student.

Trina, whose volunteer work involves children, explains, "You pick something that you love, and you just go off on it." She produced a portfolio on child development theorists Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg, and researched stages of child development; another on child abuse and neglect; and another on HIV and AIDS, causes, treatment and prevention. For her juried project she contrasted war and peace in an exhibit of mixed media and collage paintings.

Bobby, who spent the winter living on a 28-foot British cutter as a caretaker, focused his portfolios on boating and sailing-related projects: a detailed plan to sail the Atlantic. a journal of his apprenticeship with Myles Thurlow in helping to build the Mabel, an open 28-foot Noman's Land Boat, used by Vineyard Voyagers to sail down the Hudson; a series of model boats, which he designed, built and tested for drag and hull speed. His juried project was building a 12-foot, hard-chine, V-bottom skiff, with double planked, herringbone planking.

He looks up from where he's working on a wooden boat in Gannon & Benjamin's schooner shed to admit he doesn't "hang out" much. He will spend the summer as first mate on the When & If.

Emily, who did volunteer work for the AIDS Alliance and Women's Support Services, wrote a short story, The Montpelier Girls, set in Vermont where she formerly lived. She also completed a research project on female genital mutilation in Africa and submitted a journal of her experience living with a family in the rain forest of Costa Rica.

For her juried project, Anna wrote and performed an original one-woman, one-act play, Generations. "I worked for months getting it down to where I really wanted it," she says, describing the plot as "kind of complicated," about parents fleeing Bosnia during a siege and immigrating to New York.

"Basically it's a story of each family member overcoming her past," she says, explaining she was influenced by her involvement in the national model United Nations program in which the school participated. "It interested me how people around the world can overcome tragedies."

In addition to most of the group's interest in photography, all have demonstrated social and human rights consciousness, in part reflected in their required weekly mentoring choices.

Charter school director Bob Moore says he thinks the distinctive aspect of the class of 2004 is its volunteerism and community service for both the school and the Island.

Each graduate forms a separate and clear impression. Mr. Moore refers to Bobby as "focused and engaging," Anna as "inspirational and gracious," Emily, "honest and impassioned," Trina, "a positive spirit - only smiles."

And so, as family and friends settle into their seats Saturday under the tent behind the school, Mr. Moore will extend the traditional welcome. Board president Susan Phelps will offer comments, and charter school teacher Lori Shaller will present awards. The class has chosen Jane Paquet to give the address. There will be the presentation of the class gift to the school, something being designed by the four graduates. But this year the graduates have requested that donations be made to UNICEF and Amnesty International in lieu of the traditional individual gifts from the classes.

Anna and Trina agree that graduation is a very personal occasion. "Being in a class of four people has some difficulties," Anna says, "but makes you stronger friends. Maybe we would have had more friends if we were at the regional, but not as close as we are. The charter school is a small community, but so is the Island and we're part of the Island community."